It’s always nice when friends show both imagination and an understanding of what you’re about when choosing gifts for you, so I was touched by the gift of a box of 6 fat red-green mangoes as part of an anniversary present last weekend. (Don’t worry, these friends know us both well, the present included a bottle of Port for Pete!)

The variety of mangoes seemed best suited to preserving but, having made a green tomato and raisin chutney only last week, I decided to go for the sweeter option of jam. Lime has a wonderful affinity with mango, I find. So mango and lime jam it was!

Mango & Lime Jam

Ingredients

1.5kgmango flesh

1.5kgsugar

6limes, juice and zest

1packetpectin powder

Recipe Notes

Even with the lime juice, the jam is very sweet. You may want to reduce the sugar by up to a third.

I use a small sharp knife, not a zester, to peel the zest from citrus, so I get virtually all of the zest off each lime. If you’re using one of a zester or grater, which leaves a lot of green behind, you may want to use the zest from more limes.

Instructions

Peel the mangoes and remove as much of the flesh as possible. Roughly dice and weigh. (Adjust the amounts of the other ingredients to match the weight of mango flesh).

Mix the mango and sugar in a bowl and leave in the fridge for about an hour (or longer). This helps draw some of the juices out of the mango flesh.

Zest and juice the limes.

Chop the zest into small pieces.

Place all the ingredients into a large pan and bring to the boil.

Continue boiling until you achieve a set (either you a jam thermometer or the cold plate wrinkle test to check for this).

Bottle into hot sterilised jam jars and sterilised lids.

Note: a few months after I made this jam, we cracked open a jar (in March) and found that the lime has given the jam a really savoury flavour! It works well as a sweet-savoury condiment with cheese and I reckon it’d be nice with popadoms too!

Hi, I live on a mango farm and was given a bag of limes so i googled mango and lime jam and found this recipe. I made the mistake of putting the whole limes in the food prosessor to save time but it made the jam very tangy. I just added more sugar and it taste beautiful. Has a nice sweet and tangy taste to it.

Hi AnonLiving on a mango farm sounds like a dream to me!I have found that, over time, as the jam has matured, the lime flavour has come through more strongly and given the jam a lovely savoury aspect, though still sweet, of course.I think it could work as sweet condiment to savoury food, as well as just a jam.